1 Karat Horse
by Horselubber
Summary: Um, a story about Daine finding another horse, but that horse being moe than she seemed. R&R please
1. 1 Karat Horse

Daine breathed in the familiar aroma of the horse fair and sighed with happiness. Despite being the Wildmage, she still enjoyed going with Onua to search for ponies for the Riders. They had already bought a string of fast ponies that had been brought in from the plains along with a string of the usual mountain sort. Now, with a week left of the fair, they were free to enjoy themselves while keeping an eye out for a particularly good bargain.

Daine wandered past the stalls, stopping briefly at one to buy a loaf of cinnamon bread. She chewed it happily as she went to look at more horses. On my way to the corrals, she stopped at a claiming race. She watched as a horse that was so filthy that the color was completely covered took the lead, the boy on her back whipping her despite the fact that she was far in the lead. After cruelly hauling her up at the finish line, the boy handed her to a heavyset man in exchange for a few coppers.

The man took her saddle off and put it into a nearby cart that was laden with many goods. He apparently didn't know much about horses because he hitched the tired mare to the wagon and whipped her into a slow walk. He apparently wanted a trot, because he never stopped whipping her, even when welts appeared on her back but she was too tired.

Daine growled under my breath and then left, feeling slightly uneasy. No animal should be treated like that, but she couldn't do anything just then. She walked to the corrals, still feeling uneasy where she met Onua. Daine told her about what she had seen and it was obvious that the news had disturbed her, but they both knew that nothing could be done. They walked back to camp sometime later with the dirty mare still hanging in the back of their minds.

Later that night Daine dreamed about Cloud. She had died in the first snow of last year. Daine had been expecting it because she was older than Daine was, but that didn't make her death any less painful. She hadn't called to anyone for help, she knew that her time had come. One of the stable hands had found her cold, lifeless body in her stall, a look of peace on her face. Daine had cried for days and even her husband, Numair, couldn't make her leave her room. About a week after Cloud died, the dreams started. They were dreams of Cloud. Some were dreams of the past, but others were events that Daine knew had never happened. She had one such dream that night.

She dreamed that she was watching Cloud run through a field. Then, she stopped and looked at her, rearing and throwing her forelock in the air. When she hit the ground, filth started to accumulate on her coat until the whiteness couldn't be seen. When she looked at Daine again, it wasn't Cloud but the filthy mare that she had seen earlier that day. As their eyes locked, the setting changed and she was walking slowly away with the lashes of the whip falling on her back. Daine screamed and woke up to someone shaking her shoulder.

"Daine, Daine!" Onua said as she shook the younger woman awake. Daine rolled over her face white.

"I dreamed about her again," Daine said, "I can't remember it at all, but I remember her and that it was disturbing."

"Hush," said Onua, "Go back to sleep. You need your rest and she probably won't visit you again tonight. We'll look at that new breed of pony that I liked tomorrow." She went off into a long ramble about horses and when she looked at Daine again, the woman had fallen asleep. Onua smiled and then went back to her own bedroll.

They were looking at a new breed of pony that had just come in when the horse that Daine had seen the day before passed. It's eyes were glazed over and it's coat was possibly even dirtier than the day before. There were many new cuts and welts along the horse's back which told of all the beating that it had received since Daine had last seen it. Daine watched it until it was around the corner. She warred with herself about whether or not to follow it.

"Oh gods blast it," she said to herself and then sped in the direction that the horse had gone leaving Onua bargaining for the ponies. When she turned the corner, she was surprised to see a great crowd forming. She grabbed a man.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"A horse collapsed," he said simply an resumed trying to get a better look. Daine instantly began shoving her way through the crowd. When she got to the front of it, she saw that the horse that had collapsed was indeed the mare from earlier. The man that was driving the cart was beating her mercilessly. Daine snuck up behind him and grabbed the whip as he prepared to hit the horse again.

"What are you doing?" Daine practically screamed.

"Tryin' to get me horse up," the man replied, "It's bein' stubborn an' lazy an' the only thin' tha' it listens to is the whip."

"Can't you see that the horse is almost dead?" said Daine through clenched teeth.

The man looked the mare over. "She seems fine to me," he said.

"Well she's not," Daine said. Then, a sudden idea hit her. "How much do you want for her?" Daine asked.

"I paid three copper bits so me price is four," he said, eager for an opportunity to make money. Daine sighed and handed over the money. Then she went to the horse that she had just bought. She knelt down beside it and tried t touch its mind. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. This was odd but her only priority at that moment was getting the mare out of there.

"Come on girl," Daine murmured in the horse's ear, "Get up." She unhitched the horse from the cart and a man from the crowd pulled it away. Daine sent some of her energy into the mare, enough so that the mare would be able to stand.

The mare opened her eyes. Daine was startled by the color. They were an ice-blue. Daine coaxed the mare to her feet and led her off. They were just around the corner when they ran into Onua.

"I bought that string of ponies," she said. Then she noticed what Daine was leading. She looked exasperated and said, "Oh Daine, you didn't. . ."

"I did, and I don't regret it," said Daine. "She obviously needed to get to a better home and what better place than Corus?"

"If she lives that long," Onua replied darkly. They took the mare back to their corrals. Daine started to work on her coat. Once a few layers of dirt and grime were removed, Daine was shocked at what she saw. The mare was a mass of scars and sores. She had bald patches on her back from where various ill fitting tack items had rubbed and from a strange fungus. She was also covered in ticks and had bad ear mites and worms. She was also badly malnourished. After a few more layers of filth were removed, Daine realized that the mare was a palomino.

"Get me. . . All of the medicines that are in my bag," Daine said to Onua. Onua brought them quickly and helped her treat the mare. It took over an hour, but the mare was looking marginally better when they finished. They decided not to turn her out with the other horses, but rigged a small makeshift paddock for her. They decided to name her Karat because she was gold, and because she was a horse.

"We'll leave tomorrow," Onua said, "Before we have any more sick and injured horses to drag along with us." Daine blushed but agreed and they both went to bed early for the night.

They awoke early and tied the horses into a string and left before the area got too crowded. They had to go slow because Karat still hadn't built up much strength yet. They stopped at a rest stop in the middle of the day and had lunch. Most of the ponies were grazing, but Karat just stood there looking miserable with her head down.

"I'll look over her again before we leave," Daine promised Onua.

After Daine looked her over and discovered that nothing was wrong, they headed out and didn't stop again until nightfall. Then, Onua put a protective circle around the camp and the two women fell asleep to the sound of the horses grazing.

One horse wasn't grazing. Karat was looking up at the sky. She felt like she remembered something from a long distant past, but years had thrown the memory from her mind. She sniffed at the grass. She, unlike most horses, had never found grass particularly appetizing. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. She lipped up mouthful after mouthful until she was full. She didn't trust the new two-legger that had her. No two-leggers were good.

The trip back to Corus was uneventful. As they passed familiar landmarks, Daine thought back to the time when she had first made the trip fourteen years ago, when she was twelve. So much had happened since then.

A few weeks later, they crested a ridge and there was Corus, spread out below them. It only took them a matter of minutes to reach the gate and surprisingly little time to reach the palace. They had just reached the stables when-

"Mama, Mama!!!!!" Two children were pelting towards Daine, their eyes shining with happiness. Sarralyn, the elder, was eight years old while her little brother Rikash was only six.

"Where is your father?" she asked as they swarmed over her. Two huge hands covered her eyes from behind. Laughing, she disentangled herself from her children and turned to give her husband a hug.

"I'll put the ponies away," said Onua, smiling knowingly

"Thanks," said Daine, throwing her a look of gratitude. Before she could leave, however, the queen arrived, dressed as usual in plain clothing.

"A good bunch this year," she said, "Except this one looks a bit iffy." She pointed at Karat.

"I rescued her," said Daine, "She was being abused and I can't let an animal stay in a situation like that, not when I can do something about it."

"I understand. I can see the whip marks from here," Thayet said. She moved closer to examine the rest of the horse, but Karat shrunk back from her. "Can you tell her that I won't bite? I want to take a lok at her conformation," Thayet said to Daine.

"I can't, sorry," Daine said, "It's like there's a barrier that prevents me talking to her. She is even scared of me. We had an. . . Interesting time on the way here treating her wounds."

"Oh," Thayet said. She untied Karat's lead line and practically dragged her away from the other horses. Daine went to hold the horse's head (with the horse protesting loudly and violently the whole time) while Thayet tried to get close enough to the mare to examine her.

"She may do eventually, but she will need to gain weight and lose her fear of humans if she is to become a good Rider pony," Thayet said thoughtfully.

"Actually," Daine said, "I'd like to keep her. I need a mount since Cloud. . ." Her voice trailed off.

"Okay," said Thayet understandingly. "You should probably release her now."

"Oh, yeah," Daine said as she let g of Karat's halter and tied her back in the string with the other ponies. She led the string to the nearest pasture and let them go one by one, Karat shooting past so quickly that Daine could hardly get her halter off.

Daine had to enlist the other ponies' help to recapture Karat. It seemed that now she ha gotten her strength back, she wanted nothing more to do with humans. Daine finally got the hater over her head and half dragged the horse back to the barn. The horse stayed in the barn for the rest of the spring and Daine spent time with her every day.

Even after all that time, Karat still wouldn't let Daine near her. Daine tried to ride her only once. She was a superior rider, but Karat managed to buck her off each time anyway. When the trainees headed to Pirate's Swoop, Daine brought her along and used her as a packhorse.

Throughout that time, Karat had strange dreams. She felt sometimes like she half remembered kindness, and had flashes of memory of the inside of a castle like the one she was stabled next to. She dreamed several times that she was human. One of the most vivid of those dreams was that she was little, only about five, and a woman was brushing her hair and singing a silly song. As she laughed in the dream, she woke up.


	2. Next Chap

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Tamora Pierce's books, But Karat belongs to me

**Echo Chambers: **thanks for the review! I changed the summary, thanks for the advice. I didn't say that it was my first fanfic in the summary, although it was. Thanks also for the compliments, it really felt good to see that some people like my writing.

It took several weeks to reach Pirate's Swoop. During that time, Karat wouldn't let anyone besides Daine near her, and only let Daine because she had to. She didn't want anything more to do with humans now. To her, they brought only pain.

One thing puzzled her though. This human, Daine, hadn't beaten her, starved her, or pushed her to the point of exhaustion. She decided to take a chance with this two legger and see how far she could push her.

Daine was untacking Karat near the stables once they had finally reached Pirate's Swoop. She noticed that for once, the horse wasn't trying to escape her. Maybe she was making progress. . . Then she felt a tickle at the back of her neck, then a sharp tug and her hair flew around her face as her bandanna came off. She turned around, to find that no one was there. She turned back to untacking Karat, but she saw that the horse had run a short way off and was holding the handkerchief that had recently held Daine's hair cheekily in her mouth.

Daine laughed so hard, that tears were forming in her eyes. It was nice to see the horse not acting so afraid of her anymore. She went to go retrieve her kerchief, but the horse stayed just out of reach with, Daine noted, a slight look of fear in her eyes.

After a few minutes, Karat threw the kerchief back over her head and bucked until the remnants of the packs fell off and then ran to join the other horses. By this pint, Daine was seething with anger. She heard a laugh. She turned to see George Cooper, the Lioness' husband, leaning against the barn having apparently watched the entire spectacle.

"I suppose that you couldn't have helped me," Daine said ruefully.

"Nope, it's not in my nature. I enjoy watching other people struggle," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"It was funny though," said Onua from the shadows of the barn where apparently she had been watching too.

"Did anybody miss that horse making a fool of me?" Daine asked exasperatedly. "You would think that people would have better things to do than watch someone get outsmarted by a horse."

"Well, we are simple people with simple pleasures and it _was_ very amusing," said a voice from behind her. Daine turned to look and saw Alanna, Thayet, and Buri grinning at her from their various vantage points on the fence.

"Well, I guess no one missed my embarrassment if you three are here. But I can hope that the trainees didn't see. . ." Daine said.

"Don't worry, they were all watching you over the backs of the ponies they were grooming," Onua said. She then grinned and pointed. Sure enough, all the trainees were there and paying _way_ too much attention to the horses they were grooming. Some of their mouths were twitching. Daine snorted and turned away. Trying to maintain some dignity, she picked up the packs and walked inside.

The horses had started running in the meadow. Their heads and tails were up and they were running for the joy of it. They started running faster and faster and the trainees watched with awe. Some horses with less endurance started falling out and going to graze in small groups.

Finally, there were only three left; a big bay gelding, a stocky roan gelding, and Karat. Karat but on a burst of speed and started bucking. The two geldings followed her lead and soon they were having a grand old time. Daine smiled from the fence where she had returned after putting the packs away. It was nice to see the horse happy for a change.

Sorry the chapter was so short. I'll try to beef up the next one!


	3. 3rd Chapter

-1Disclaimer: Still in the process of not owning anything that belongs to Tammy. KARAT IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**ShadowMoonDancer: **Thanks!

**ShadowofScribe:** Thanks!

**Kaypgirl: **Thanks!

Daine whistled and the two geldings that were with Karat immediately came running over. Karat ran with them for a few seconds, until she realized what they were running to. She stopped dead about ten feet from the fence when she saw Daine.

Daine pretended to ignore her while the two geldings fought for her attention. She casually looked over and found that Karat had ooched a few feet closer. She looked away again. When she looked back, Karat was gone. She sighed, gave the geldings a final scratch, and headed inside.

She came out again to see Karat. She went to the middle of the field and looked around. The palomino mare was nowhere to be seen. She looked at all the bunches carefully and brushed the minds of a few, but no Karat. She felt a soft whuff on the back of her neck and jumped. She wasn't used to the fact that she couldn't "feel" Karat.

She turned slowly and saw the mare poised to flee at a moment's notice. Daine looked down at the ground and stretched out a hand to the mare. The mare backed up a few steps and Daine slowly lowered her hand. She turned back around and started to walk away. She heard the mare following her and smiled. She had earned the horse's trust.

Sorry it's so short.


	4. We're Getting There

-1Still not owning anything.

**ShadowMoonDancer:** I love annoying my readers. I also have a lot of experience with spooky/abused horses. I've been helping a friend retrain one recently which is what gave me the idea for the story. It's just kind of hard to write about because it involves a lot of sitting there. For HOURS.

**ShadowofScribe: **Ok.

Daine put Karat in her stall for a bit of time each day and at nights. The first time she visited her, Karat wouldn't come forward, not even for a carrot. A few days later, Daine came and held out the carrot as usual. Karat stared at her and Daine looked away. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Karat hesitantly walked forward. She stopped a few inches from the carrot and watched Daine for a second. She then grabbed the carrot and retreated to the back of the stall, munching her prize.

Soon, Daine was able to catch her without enlisting the other ponies' help, as long as she went slowly. After a while, Karat would come to her when she saw Daine heading for her with a halter. Her demeanor improved and she became really nice and sweet.

A few months after that, Karat finally allowed Daine to ride her. It was like riding on a cloud, she was so smooth. As their relationship improved, Daine began noticing a change in the horse.

She was becoming smarter. Karat knew it. Suddenly, as she watched Daine latch the latch, she understood how it worked. She began getting out every day after that, even when they put a new latch on her stall. She also began understanding human speech.

She also started having these half remembered dreams again, about herself as a human. In the dreams, she was never more than six years old and she was always happy. Daine noticed the change and was pleased.

Karat remembered being abused sometimes. She would wake up confused, and scared. But then she would remember where she was and who owned her and she would calm down. She now trusted Daine, but no other. Whenever the lady that Daine called Onua came to see her, she would retreat to the back of her stall and not come forward for anything, not even a carrot.

Karat felt like she was growing more human as the months passed, despite the fact that she was a horse. One thing bugged her that had always bugged her. She couldn't remember her past. The first thing that she remembered, was waking up in an auction stall. She thought that the dreams she was having must have something to do with her past. Maybe she was dreaming about her first owner, putting herself in a loved one's mind as a memory.

Then one night, she had a dream that changed her mind.

Once again, a bit short, but I'm building up to something. You'll see what in the next chapter probably.


	5. five up

-1**GinaStar: **Thanks!

**Shewolf24:** Thanks! I also love to ride and all that. Thanks for all the reviews!!

She was running in a field, chasing a pack of other small children about ages 4 to 9. They were all laughing. She caught up to the nearest, a 7 yr old boy, hit him on the back and yelled "TAG, YOU'RE IT" before running giggling into the tree that lined the clearing.

"Come back!" the boy yelled, "you know we're not supposed to leave the meadow!"

True to the form of a six year old, she ignored him. As she ran, giggling, deeper into the forest, she realized that she couldn't hear the other children anymore. She decided to go back. As she was walking back he way she had come, nothing looked familiar. Night was starting to fall, and she was staring to get cold. She finally realized that she was lost.

As night fell, she walked and walked, before finally getting too tired to go on. She knew that she couldn't have gone that far, so she must have headed in the wrong direction when she decided to go back.

She sat down on a rock and started crying. Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see a nice looking young man looking down at her.

"Are you lost sweet apple?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered quietly.

"Well come with me little blossom and we will go back to my house for the night." He scooped her up and set off. The little girl felt better now that there was an adult there to help her.

When they got into his house, he put her down in a chair and put a blanket over her shoulders. He went over to the kitchen and fixed a cup of something. He put it down in front of her.

"Drink." he said.

She sniffed the cup. "But it smells funny," she said quietly.

"Drink it," he answered, "It will make you warmer."

She took a tentative sip, it tasted horrible, but it did make her a little warmer. She took a big breath and gulped the rest down. She looked at him. He was watching her with a strange look on his face. Then, all of a sudden, the room started to feel too warm. She threw off the blanket, but it didn't help. She ran outside where night was falling and then fell on the ground, a great pain in her stomach. She heard her clothes rip as her vision went black.

R&R please, and also give me ideas for what her name should be.


	6. one more

-1**Frog's Princess:** Thanks and Okay

**GinaStar:** Hmm. . . Good idea

All who have replied since: I am rewriting this chapter because I read it and realized that you all are right and it needed to be rewritten. If anyone wants to help me, give me ideas or something, those would be most welcome. I am currently battling with writer's block and after this chapter have decided not to write at 2 in the morning anymore. Yeah, my war against writer's block is not going well. Tell me what you think of the rewritten chapter and ignore the next chapter for now because it really will not make sense until I rewrite it.

Lesson of the previous chapter- don't talk to strangers, no matter how nice they look

Karat woke up breathing hard, the dream still fresh in her mind. Was she a human? She thought back over the past five years she had spent as a horse. She had been bought, whipped, starved, sold, bought, whipped, starved, sold and so on and so forth. Man, so many people didn't know how to treat a horse! They just thought of it as a way to get around, not as a living, breathing, creature not so different from themselves.

Everything was so confusing. She felt as if her head was full of murky water, preventing her thoughts from being clear and organized. As she stood there, mulling it over, Daine walked in with a halter. Karat shied back at first out of habit, but then she walked up to Daine, suddenly trusting her, but not knowing where that trust had come from. Should she trust the trust? She decided to. She knew that Daine was a good person.

Daine led her outside. Karat followed meekly. "Well it's nice to see she's coming around," said Onua, "Can you talk to her now?"

Daine tried to brush the horse's mind, but still couldn't "feel" her. "Nope," she said with a sigh.

The trainees were to go on a training mission that day. Their mission was to find "clues" that Daine would hide for them. Daine decided that she could ride Karat, just to see how she would react. Karat was perfect through the saddling and the ride. She seemed to have lot all fear. This confused Daine. Horses don't go from plastered against the wall scared to perfect all in one night. She put it out of her mind for a later time.

As they walked through the forest, Daine kept trying to touch the Karat's mind. It never worked. Finally, when she got back to the stable, she dismounted and went to grab the reins. As she grabbed them, she looked into the horse's eyes. For the first time since she had met her, Karat looked right back into her eyes. Immediately, Daine felt a wave of dizziness and nausea.

As she steadied herself on the fence, she remembered the first time she had met her husband. He had been in hawk form and looking into his eyes had been strange and confusing, not exactly like this, but the feeling had been similar. She thought over what this could mean. Could Karat be a foreign spy? Daine put that thought out of her mind, the horse would have been acting much more strangely if that had been the case. Could the horse be an injured mage like Numair had been? Possibly, in that case she needed help. Could Karat be an innocent person who had been transformed by a spell? This seemed the most likely. Daine put it out of her mind. Alanna the Lioness was supposed to be arriving that night. As a powerful mage, she might have a better clue about how to handle the situation.

The trainees found all of the clues easily. Because they found them so quickly, they got to go to bed early. Onua, Daine, and Thayet stayed up late playing cards in the main hall, waiting for Alanna who was due to be arriving late that night.

Karat stretched her neck over the door and looked both ways to see if anyone was there. No one was, so she quickly set to work opening the lock. It was another new one, so it took a few minutes but eventually she got it. It was supposed to be horse proof, but there always had to be the exception that proved the rule. She quietly trotted out into the yard and looked around. All the gates were shut, so she couldn't leave the palace. Suddenly, as if her thinking about it had somehow triggered it, a gate started to open. She bolted towards it, hoping that whoever was coming through it would be too surprised at her running through to stop her. No such luck. She felt a loop fly over her neck and she crashed to the ground, scraping her left shoulder and hip along with bruising her entire left side. Another loop flew over her head as she struggled to her feet and she felt herself being dragged back into the palace.

"Daine, hello," Alanna said, "Is this horse yours? She tried to escape when they opened the gates." She moved aside so that Daine could see Karat.

"Yep," Daine said, shaking her head, "This is about the hundredth time she has tried to escape. We have put every lock known to man on her stall door, but she figures them all out. We have tried leaving her out at night, but she jumps the fence. I can't touch her mind, and I believe that she might be a human, like Numair was."

"Hmm. . ." Alanna said as she turned on her mage sight and scanned the horse. In her mage sight, the horse gleamed bright orange. Not like a god, but not like a normal horse either.

"I can tell you this, she's not a horse, but I'm not sure if she's a mage or a normal human or what. I'd look at her now, but I'm too tired tonight. I'll look at her tomorrow. I don't think she's dangerous anyway." Alanna yawned and went inside.

R&R please


	7. almost there

1Shang Leopard: Thanks

1**Shang Leopard:** Thanks! Those names are pretty good, and I will definitely pay more attention to the spelling, which is more of a typing error because I type to fast to catch all the letters sometimes.

**GinaStar:** thanks!

**ShadowMoonDancer:** see my profile for the answer, and I like that idea :P

Karat decided to stay there for the night. They might find a way to turn her back. Seeing as she couldn't sleep, she had a lot of free time to think. She started thinking about her past, the memories were all flooding back to her now. Her mother combing her hair, riding her pony in the meadow, playing with her friends, all the things from a happy childhood.

She must have dosed off somewhere in there because the next thing she knew, a halter was being put over her head and she was led, blinking, into the sun. Alanna was there waiting with a small crystal around her throat. She and Daine took her into a small stone room, away from others eyes if she happened to change back, since she would most likely not be wearing any clothes.

"Well, let's get started then," Alanna said, rolling up her sleeves. She took Daine's hand and they merged their magic. Together, they reached out and touched the horse. They reached into her mind, where they found a barrier. With a burst of power, Alanna burned through the barrier.

Karat's mind went clear. After a moment of rejoicing, she realized that she was still a horse. Something had happened though, her mind was fully human. She stared around and saw Daine conversing with Alanna over what to do next.

"If she were a mage, she would have come out by now," Alanna was saying. She looked the horse over and, determining that it was still fully horse-like, she sighed and turned away. Karat came and nudged the back of Alanna's neck.

"What if she is human, but not a mage?" asked Daine. "She would be unfamiliar with the concept of shapeshifting then and would not know the principles of turning back into a human." Alanna considered this as she looked at the horse.

Daine reached out with her wild magic to the horse. The barrier around her was gone, but Daine was still unconnected from her. Daine reached into the horse until she found her essence. The essence was human. Daine threw lines of copper fire around it and dragged it out into the open.

The horse fell over. She hit the ground and started shrinking. She shrank until she was back in the form of an eleven year old girl with hair so blonde that it was almost white.


End file.
